1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ditch diggers and more specifically it relates to a ditch digging and cleaning system for easily digging ditches, cleaning ditches, and creating terraces with reduced power take-off (PTO) power.
Farmers often times desire to dig ditches for draining water from fields thereby increasing the usability of the land. In addition, farmers often times desire to construct terraces on uneven land. Hence, it is desirable to have a single machine that both digs ditches and creates terraces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ditch digging devices have been in use for years. Typically, a rotary blade member is utilized that has a rotational plane parallel to a vertical axis. The lower edge of a rotary blade engages, cuts and throws the dirt creating a curved ditch structure.
Conventional ditch diggers require significant PTO power to the PTO shaft since the rotary blade is initially engaging, cutting and throwing the dirt. In addition, conventional ditch diggers merely cutout a curved ditch that easily fills in with dirt and debris over time requiring constant cleaning. Also, a curved ditch is incapable of handling as large of volume of water as a flat bottomed ditch of the same width. In additional, the velocity of water flowing through a conventional curved ditch is significantly higher than a flat bottomed ditch of the same width thereby increasing erosion of the land.
Examples of ditch diggers include U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,610 to Liebrecht, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 2,965,985 to Sillasen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,761 to Nadeau; U.S. Pat. No. 3,624,826 to Rogers; U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,618 to Croucher; U.S. Pat. No. 2,923,073 to Baker; U.S. Pat. No. 2,885,800 to Hawkins; U.S. Pat. No. 1,175,926 to Bunnell; U.S. Pat. No. 1,095,097 to Foumet; U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,534 to Sackett; U.S. Pat. No. 16,007 to Evans which are all illustrative of such prior art.
Liebrecht, Jr. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,610) discloses a rotating disk type ditcher. Liebrecht teaches a frame structure, a PTO power system, and a cutting disk inclined downwardly so that the leading edge cuts into the ground. A plurality of paddles or scoops are positioned on the back side of the disk that throw the soil particles.
Sillasen (U.S. Pat. No. 2,965,985) discloses a rotary whirling ditcher. Sillasen teaches a frame, a drive assembly, and a plurality of rotating blades.
Nadeau (U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,761) discloses a rotary ditcher having ripper blades. Nadeau teaches a flywheel type rotor carrying impeller blades that pickup and throw soil to the side of the rotor, and two ripper blades in front of the rotor that loosen the soil.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for easily digging ditches, cleaning ditches, and creating terraces with reduced power take-off (PTO) power. Conventional machines require extensive PTO power for operating properly which can be extremely demanding upon a tractor vehicle.
In these respects, the ditch digging and cleaning system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of easily digging ditches, cleaning ditches, and creating terraces with reduced power take-off (PTO) power.